Saturday, November 8th we went to see some live bands again - and this time we weren’t going to bar hop and see multiple bands for a few reasons. One, because we had a few people with us and were celebrating a birthday, and two because we were going to see 56 Daze!

56 Daze

It had been a few years since we saw 56 Daze, and it was actually at Firehouse 47 (where we were going on Sat). We went early so we could eat dinner around 8:30, and we got pretty much the last table in the place. By the time our dinner was done and the band was ready to go on at 9:30 every table and every chair in the place was full, and there were about a dozen people standing up. I also noticed that the chairs and tables had been rearranged to make the dance floor twice it’s normal size (which I wondered about, because I hadn’t seen that before).

From the very first song of the very first set the dance floor was full, and by the middle of the first set about an additional 35 people had arrived - and of course they had to stand up (because there were no seats or tables).  Apparently after being gone 2 years - the anticipation of getting 56 Daze back to the Firehouse was pretty great for most of the locals, you couldn’t have fit any more people in that place if you had to.

If you haven’t seen 56 Daze perform around Toledo you don’t know what you’re missing.  They aren’t your average cover band.  A good percentage of the shows they play throughout the year are private parties, corporate events, and weddings.  This is probably due to their versatility.  In the middle of the second set they played an amazing disco mix that included Celebrate and Get Down on It, and even Staying Alive and Do Ya Think I’m Sexy.  If that wasn’t enough they did an 80’s section that included Aha’s “Take On Me”, Come On Eileen, and (I’m Gonna Be) 500 Miles. I thought all the women were going to go nuts when they played both Faithfully and Don’t Stop Believin’!

All I have to say is - they have a public peformance the day before Thanksgiving that you can catch them at - and then they don’t have another public appearance pretty much the entire month of December (since they’re all private).  There was a reason that the Firehouse was so packed last Saturday night, and also a reason that the dance floor had to be expanded to double the size (and even then it wasn’t big enough). In the 5 years I’ve been going to the Firehouse to see live bands, I’ve never seen a single one bring in as many people on a non-holiday weekend two nights back to back as 56 Daze did. We see a lot of bands all over Toledo - but this is one show you just don’t want to miss.

Visit their web site, or Myspace profile or their band profile page here on T-Town Sound to check them out!

Here are some pics of the band…I would have gotten video too, but I couldn’t get near the dance floor or band long enough!! People were dancing in the aisles, in between the tables, and all over!

The pics below are Tony (keyboard and lead vocal), Rick (lead guitar and vocal), Mahlon (bass and vocal), and Rob Desmond (drums) sitting in for Scott for the weekend.

Oh - I figured that I should post this pic of the “Bobarazzi” since he’s normally taking pics, and it’s not often people take his picture!